


Keep Me Warm

by cellard00rs



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Snowed In, shyan secret santa 2018, shyanwritingevents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 02:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17153666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cellard00rs/pseuds/cellard00rs
Summary: The boys get snowed in at a haunted location. Ryan is cold, Shane warms him up.





	Keep Me Warm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chapscher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chapscher/gifts).



“It’s cold.”

“Yeah, you’ve said,” Shane sighs and Ryan knows he’s pushing it. But…well, he’s _cold_ , dammit. Not that it’s his long-limbed friend’s fault. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s his own. He’s the one who was set on shooting in Canada. He’s the one who blithely ignored how this is when the snowfall is at it’s the worst. He’s the one who…well, let’s just say Ryan knows he’s responsible for this.

But the Mather Walls house was just too gorgeous and too interesting to pass up. Besides, he honestly thought the snow would be a nice touch. Yes, they’ve done a few shoots with icy conditions, but this? This was sure to be cinematically beyond reproach. Gorgeous. And it _is_. But it’s also cold.

Cold and freezing his delicate Californian skin off. He’s sure his golden tan is just leeching away, making him a pale imitation of who he is. Even bundled up, he feels the frigid temperature in his very bones and hey, it might be because this snowfall is epic. So epic they’ve been chattering about it on the news non-stop. Or they were until the power gave up.

That’s right – it’s freezing and now there’s no electricity. No wi-fi. No _nothing_. It’s like they’re back in the dark ages, which, considering how dark it is right now, is fitting. They have this whole big, beautiful (reportedly haunted) place all to themselves too. That was the deal they worked out with the caretakers of the place. Oh, they’re close by, but they’re not in the building and with the way the snow’s falling, it’s unlikely they will be. Not until tomorrow morning at any rate.

And the rest of the crew? Oh, they were much too smart to stay. After wrapping on some more principle shooting – Devon, TJ, and Mark headed off to a real hotel that probably has warm lights, warm beds, warm TVs, warm… _warm_.

Ryan’s breath huffs out of him and he does his best to restrain the repetitive whine.

He fails, “It’s cold.”

“Ryan…” the tone is warning and frankly, Ryan can’t blame Shane for it. He’s being a brat, but…

“I’M cold.”

“You’ll be stone cold dead if you don’t knock it off,” Shane returns snidely and Ryan replies, “If I could see better, I bet I could see my breath.”

“Hang on,” Shane looks around before letting out a tiny ‘ah ha’ as he takes hold of a candle on a nearby cabinet. He fiddles with it and a cheery light fills the room, “Thought I remembered seeing one of those lil’ battery powered candles being here. What’ll they think of next, huh?”

He waggles the little light at Ryan, but it doesn’t do much to improve his mood _or_ his temperature, “Great, you found a night light. Now what?”

“Well what more do you want, Ry?”

“I don’t know…not to be turning into Frosty, that’s for damn sure. If the power stayed on, we could watch some more TV or I could’ve read my book or something.”

“You? Read?”

“Shut up, Shane.”

“What’re you working through? A Goosebumps? The Last Unicorn?”

“Agatha Christie, actually,” Ryan returns as if this is much loftier than the titles Shane suggested but, then again, maybe he’d have sounded smarter if he’d listed off some non-fictional piece. Not that he needs to sound smarter to Shane. Or impress him. Or…yeah, he’s gonna steer clear of those thoughts. The ones that have been plaguing him of late.

However, much to Ryan’s surprise, Shane seems suitably awed, “Oh yeah? Who’re we talking? Miss Marple? Poirot?  Maybe a little-little ‘Murder on the Orient Express’?”

“Neither, actually,” Ryan rigidly ignores the stab of pleasure at Shane’s reaction, “Checking out ‘And Then There Were None’.”

“Ahhhh…”

“Yeah, the grandmother of slashers…”

“Any good?”

“Eh, not bad,” Ryan grins and this is nice. Nice and normal and he’s happy his heart-rate is returning to its regularly scheduled beat after the stupid skip it presented when Shane’s voice lilted up with wonder at Ryan’s literary choices. Shane moves his battery-operated candle about as if it’s a flashlight (funny, considering he has a real one in his jacket) and shrugs, “We-we could go look for your ghost friends. Bet-bet this is their prime time. Bet they love the dark and the cold.”

“I’m sure,” Ryan grumbles but shakes his head, “But, mean, it’s late…and we filmed what we needed to, so…”

“Not to mention, y’know, ghosts aren’t real.”

“Eh, bite me, Shane.”

“And even if they ARE real,” he waves around the place with one finger, “They’re sure as fuck not here. Honestly? Quietest place we’ve ever been.”

Ryan’s lips screw up to one side in worry, “Think the episode’ll suck? Be boring?”

“Nah, viewers’ll like the look of the place. The snow. Us. All of that but, man, you’ve never taken us to a place with such a vague history. It’s all rotating piano stools and possible little ghost girl sightings in the windows. No real clean and cut – it’s this particular ghost who was murdered by this particular person.”

“I thought it might be fun to do something with a little more mystery! Something _truly_ unsolved! I mean, this building was _exorcised_! And we don’t even know why! There’s no real reports of any kind of demon but they chose to go THAT hard?!”

“Yeah, but you also said you didn’t get any feelings here. Any-any heebie-jeebies.”

“Probably because I’m too goddamn cold to!” Ryan argues and this very stimulating disagreement has been taking place in the very room Ryan plans to sleep in, so he even as he eyes the bed, Shane reads his thoughts, “Thinking of hitting the hay?”

“Maybe.”

“Problem?”

“I’ve told you,” he knows his tone is plaintive but he could honestly give a shit, because he’s made it pretty damn clear what his current problem is. Shane seems unmoved, “Ryan, you get under the covers, bundle yourself up like a butterfly in a cocoon – boom! Warm.”

“I don’t know, man, even fully dressed I feel like I’m gonna freeze. What if-what if I lay in that bed and the next morning, I’m-I’m Jack Nicholson from ‘The Shining’.”

“…you’re honestly worried you’re going to turn into a Ryansicle?”

“Stop.”

“A Ryan-Pop?”

“Shut up.”

“Ben and Jerry’s new flavor, ‘Boogara ‘n Berry’?”

“Boo-?” Ryan cuts off with a wheeze and he’d really like to know what the hell kind of ingredients that would entail. What is he? Vanilla? Chocolate? Strawberry? Or maybe something more unique and he’s just about to ask Shane what he tastes like when he realizes how _that_ will sound and thankfully holds his tongue.

Still, having had the thought he feels a flush of awkwardness take him as he gestures stiffly to the bed, “Yeah, I…I guess I’ll try to get some shut eye.”

Shane just nods as Ryan kicks back the covers and climbs underneath. The quilt the place has provided is decently thick but he’s still unsure as to how warm it’ll make him. He’s sure Shane’s going to shuffle off to his own room – the place is big enough that they each have their own separate space to sleep. Technically they’re supposed to film themselves trying to get some shut eye, but Ryan’s not really sure how much footage he feels like getting – his fingers feel frozen solid.

Shane will probably get a lot more footage than him, although it’ll probably be all of him sleeping peacefully and perfectly. Bastard. But then Ryan looks over and Shane has had yet to leave. He’s just…standing there. Watching Ryan get comfortable. It’s odd and makes Ryan’s heart start to trip again, “You-you tucking me in, pal?”

“You bet. Gonna-gonna read you a bedtime story to send you off to dream land and everything.”

“Make sure to check under my bed for monsters.”

“Of course.”

“And my closet.”

They both laugh and Ryan almost regrets not recording this, because the audience would eat it up. But…he’s kind of happy it’s just for him. Just a nice, private moment with his best friend who he…

…is best friends with. Dammit. His mind flashes to Steven and their last conversation and no, no, no. Ryan’s made his decision. He’s decided to be cool about this. It IS something he needs to discuss with Shane. It is. But it’s not something they need to discuss right _now_. So he turns on his side and closes his eyes and huddles in on himself. He tries to settle his mind and find some way, any way, to drift off to sleep when suddenly the mattress dips.

It dips because of added weight and he hears a hefty sigh, boots thudding on the carpet as they’re being removed and, um…

“Shane?”

“Yeah?”

“What’re you-?”

“You still look cold, Ryan,” Shane confides, “And I’m not having you harp on about it tomorrow. You usually get shit-for-sleep on these shoots anyway, but if I can help…”

Ryan can feel Shane moving beneath the quilt, can feel him moving closer. He swallow thickly and oh, yeah, _now_ he feels warm. His face feels as if it’s on fire, embarrassment strangling him as he manages, “You don’t have to-?”

“I know I don’t,” Shane grouses even as he big-spoons himself around Ryan’s back, “But we know how it goes the next day if I sleep well and you don’t. No thanks. I’ll take my losses. Now, if you’d just…”

Shane eases as close as he possibly can without putting his arms around Ryan (not that Ryan _wants_ that, of course) and Ryan does his best not to press back or be weird or…but okay, whatever, this _is_ weird. In general. Not that they haven’t shared a bed before, but they’ve never been this…close. All curled up around one another for body heat and man, Shane's certainly providing that.

For such a long, thin streak of a guy, he radiates a good amount of warmth and Ryan finds himself feasting on his bottom lip, his inner cheek, to not push back into it, to not beg to be enveloped in it. But he’s so cold. Even with the quilt and Shane, he can feel the chill in the air. It’s the kind that speaks to hot cocoa and fresh baked cookies…and Christ, it’s not even close to Christmas, but it feels like it.

All the blue, glacial parts of the holiday. The ones far away from the sort of Hallmark Channel homey feels…well, the bed sharing is _very_ Hallmark, but…

…or is it? This sort of thing would probably be too spicy for them and Ryan grins at the thought. Shane put down his little candle and it flickers bleakly to one side. Most of the lights in the room come from outside and Ryan’s facing the window. Through the thin curtains he can make out the shadows of falling snow, can imagine how it must look – pristine white crystals floating down to join their brethren, to make a thicker blanket that radiates white light.

“You okay?” Shane asks, although it’s more of a rumble and Ryan swears, he can feel it all along the length of his back. Can feel it through the layers of clothing separating them and a bolt of heat surges through him, makes his cheeks ache as he manages a strained, “Yeah, yeah. Th-thanks, man.”

“No problem. Go to sleep.”

 _Yeah_ , Ryan thinks, _okay_. _Sure_.

Sleep is even less likely now. God, this is humiliating. Shane’s chin could easily rest on the top of Ryan’s head if he was so inclined, but he’s keeping himself a good distance away. He’s providing shelter, heat, but not overstepping any boundaries. Yet Ryan still feels stiff. Uncomfortable.

Ryan wants to shift and knows he can’t and this is impossible. He can’t sleep like this. Shane must sense it, because an aggravated sound leaves him, “Relax.”

“I am.”

“No, you’re not. I feel like I’m lying next to big hunk of rebar. Just…just ease up and let your mind go. Sleep.”

“Okay, look – that’s-that’s not something someone can do on command, okay? I can’t just be all ‘Well, Ryan, Shane told you to go to sleep, so go to sleep’ and I start sawing logs. Sleeping isn’t like eating. You can’t just make the decision to-!”

“Sure you can,” Shane argues, “I do it all the time! I just make up my mind to go to sleep and-!”

“Alright, well, good for you, you Mr. Roboto, but the rest of us humans can’t just-!”

“You’re tense, because you’re an idiot,” Shane returns gruffly and now Ryan feels hot because he’s _mad_ , “I’m not-!”

“You are! Jesus, Ryan! I thought we were over this no-homo crap!”

“This-?” Ryan can’t help it. This remark makes him turn over to face this dickhead, to confront him, but…oh. Shane is…closer than he thought. Which says a lot. Ryan had intended to turn and face him to argue more, but his body…Shane’s so close his bottom lip brushes along Ryan’s forehead when he moves. His bottom lip brushed…

Ryan draws back, puts space between them, ignores how his forehead is tingling now as he hisses, “My being able to sleep has nothing to do with that, you jackass! And I AM over that crap! You don’t even _know_ how over that crap I am!”

“Then why can’t you just relax and go to sleep even if I’m-?”

“Because of Steven, alright!” Ryan snaps and the look Shane gives him is so perplexed that he can pick it out even in the darkness of the room, “Steven? As…as in Lim?”

“Yes,” Ryan breathes and he feels something tight in him loosen because, well, shit. He’d thought this _wasn’t_ the time, but maybe it is. Hell, there’s probably never a good time for this sort of thing anyway, “I mean…you know me and Steven spent some time together recently.”

“Yeah?” Shane asks and his voice sounds…strange. Off. Ryan swears he can feel Shane tensing up. Can see an odd glint in his eyes as if…? Ryan just shakes his head to himself and presses on, “Okay, well, we got to talking and um, I mean…you-you know he moved.”

“I did. I do,” Shane swallows after this and it’s loud. A big gulp of noise and Ryan can just make out his Adam’s apple bobbing as he sighs, “Well, ah, he…I mean, do-do you know _why_ he moved?”

He can feel the bed move as Shane does his best to shrug, “Closer to family. Expanded opportunities at Buzzfeed…”

“Yeah, yeah, Okay, but…um, he-he kinda confided to me that there was more to it than that.”

“Yeah?” is Shane’s reply and Ryan turns back around. He can’t face Shane as he confesses this. He just…he can’t.

So he turns away from him as he nods, “I mean, the reasons he’s given people are true. It’s not that they’re not. But…but there’s another reason too. One he’s kept close to the vest and I guess it…I mean, it’s been weighing on him and he needed someone to confide in and-”

“Ryan,” Shane cuts in gently, “You don’t have to tell me. I-I don’t want you to break a confidence. I-I get it. You’re not-not a no homo douchebag. I’m sorry I said that. You’ve-you’ve grown so much and now you’re more comfortable with yourself, and you wouldn’t-”

“Andrew,” Ryan whispers, but the name interrupts Shane, draws him up short. Ryan tries to look back at Shane over one shoulder but can’t really peer around the wall of their clothes and covers to catch sight of him, “He also moved because of Andrew.”

Neither of them says anything for a while. The only sound the soft, gentle scratch of what is most likely light hail hitting the windowpane. There’s a whipping howl outside, the winter storm clearly growing in intensity. Kind of like the conversation inside and now it’s Ryan’s turn to swallow, “I-I’m not breaking a confidence. Believe me. I-I wouldn’t do that. But…but you have to know because, well, it…it has a lot to do with-with why I can’t sleep.”

“Thought you couldn’t sleep because you’re cold.”

“There is that,” Ryan murmurs and he buries his face in his hands, words coming out muffled, “But, um, there’s more. And…and your being in bed with me, ah…brings it to mind.”

Shane just breathes his name and Ryan doesn’t try to read into how his name sounds, the kind of tone it’s uttered in as he forces himself to continue, eyes screwed up tight, heart thundering in his ears, “Steven realized he-he has a thing for Andrew and he-he’s worried about how it’ll effect his show so he-so he left. Figured a move would help him get over it and he confided that to me because, because…he…he thought maybe I’d understand. That I’m…I’m in the same boat. You know. With…with you.”

The room is deathly quiet and Shane had talked about heebie jeebies earlier and how Ryan didn’t have them, but he has them now. The Mather Walls house is now the most terrifying place he’s ever been, because he just said all of that aloud. And it’s out there now. Out there - a dark, hungry beast and the feelings in this room…

“Are you?” The question is a whisper. Ryan can only keep his eyes screwed shut tightly, can only whisper back, “The fans…the fans noticed. That’s the thing. That’s what Steven told me. The fans had…had always joked about Steven’s heart-eyes for Andrew, but lately it was just…it was so clear and…and now _our_ fans…”

Ryan rubs at his forehead. Rubs at the spot where Shane’s bottom lip accidentally brushed, “They’ve picked up on the same thing. The…the way I look at you sometimes and…”

“The fans are a buncha pervs, Ry,” Shane’s voice…so hard to work out his thoughts, his feelings. What’s going on in that big melon of his? “They’ve been saying shit like that for ages. They’ll think whatever they want to think. Doesn’t matter. Long as we give ‘em a good show, they’ll keep watching. Same for the Worth It fellas. They’ll watch no matter what.”

“I…I know that,” Ryan answers and wonders if Steven knows it, even as Shane asks again, oh so softly, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“O-oh?”

He can’t see the nod, but he knows it’s given, “Are you in the same boat as Steven?”

“I…ha! I-I don’t have a thing for Andrew…”

“Nice deflection,” Shane hums with genuine humor, “Wasn’t what I was asking though.”

Ryan breathes out another ‘oh’ and it’s as if someone’s taken all the oxygen out of the room. Forget about being cold – he’s going to pass out from lack of air. They’re going to find his oxygen-less, frozen body and just…

“Ryan…” Shane pushes, oh so carefully, oh so sweetly.

His eyes are still closed, but wet heat builds behind the lids because he knows answering is stupid. Knows he should deflect again or lie or do anything but let the truth leave his lips, which it does, “Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

He nods and sniffs and oh god, he can’t _cry_ on top of everything else. Jesus, Ryan, man up! “Yeah. But I’m…I mean I’m…not going to move across the country. Nothing that dramatic. Just…mean, figure you should know. Don’t…don’t want it to damage the show and just telling you probably damages the show, but at least now you know and it’s outta the way and we can move on and, mean, I’m begging you, please-please don’t do that whole ‘turn me down gently’ shtick. Like…like don’t do the ‘I love you as a friend thing’ or-or whatever girls in middle school do when someone tells them they have a crush on them, because I couldn’t take it if…”

One of Shane’s hands is on his shoulder. It’s tender, pulling him backward, encouraging him to roll over, to face him or to lie down on his back and Ryan keeps his eyes closed even as he does it and keeps talking because talking, talking will save him, “…it’s out of the way now, okay? We can both move on with our lives and it’s-it’s just a silly thing. We’re still friends and it’ll pass and I’ll be okay and you don’t have to worry abo- _mmmm_?”

The last comes out muffled. Confused. Because…there’s a mouth on his.

Lips crushed against his own, stopping the flow of his words. It’s not the world’s best kiss, but it’s…

…holy shit.

It-?

It’s a kiss.

_It’s a kiss!_

Shane? Shane is…?

The mouth draws back and Ryan’s eyes snap open and he can’t see Shane well, but Shane’s above him and long fingers caress one of his cheeks, “I stand behind my earlier remark. You’re an idiot, Ryan Bergara.”

Ryan’s pretty sure his mouth is flapping uselessly. It’s as if he wants to talk but can’t. His mind is a train that’s jumped the tracks and apparently Shane doesn’t care because he’s kissing him. Again. Shane is…kissing him. Their lips are locked together and a slick tongue is now sliding along his own and…

Ryan lets out a guttural groan and he’s _hot_. He’s so goddamn hot. He feels like he’ll never be cold again as Shane kisses him, as Shane’s fingers comb through his hair, as Shane pushes him down into the mattress and when he finally releases him enough to speak, Ryan breathes, “It’s-? I’m hot.”

“Yeah ya are,” Shane snorts and Ryan smacks at him, “No, I-I mean, I…I just noticed I’m not cold anymore.”

“Me neither. Will wonders never cease?”

“You…you never said anything about being cold…”

“Sure I was. Why do you think I wanted to share this bed with you?”

“I…I don’t-?”

“Could it have been that I was cold too or that – gasp – I _also_ have a thing?” Shane saying the actual ‘gasp’ makes Ryan crack up, even as Shane cuddles closer, puts his lips against Ryan’s forehead again and okay, he’d had something of a forehead kiss earlier and now he realizes they are very much something he’s into as Shane breathes against his hairline, “Should think more of yourself, by the way.”

Ryan only makes a questioning sound as Shane kisses his forehead, “You jumped right into rejection mode. Didn’t even give a guy a chance to return the affection. To do…what? What’s the middle school equivalent of the girl saying she likes the boy back?”

“…I think you did it with the kissing.” Ryan returns and he knows he’s smiling like a complete goofball but he doesn’t care. His heart is big and full and he’s pretty goddamn sure he’ll never feel cold ever again. Not now, not with this and he reaches up, captures Shane’s face in his hands and returns them to their regularly scheduled kissing program because this is, without a doubt, the best way to spend a night snowed in.

Wrapped up in the one person, the best person, to keep him warm.


End file.
